Which is your favorite thanksgiving song?
Perhaps this “ghastly” arrangement of NUN DANKET? It’s a guilty pleasure to link it because the commentary is just so … And it goes to show you that not all young people have abandoned amphitheater worship for the Traditional Latin Mass.
I prefer this very tasty arrangement of ST GEORGE’S WINDSOR, which includes the 1938 Thanksgiving Proclamation of Connecticut Governor Wilbur L. Cross. Nicely conceived and well performed by a college choir.
One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite musicals. Many people don’t realize the text is a two-hundred-year-old hymn by Matthias Claudius. People sung it in Germany and Britain before it made it to Broadway. The new cast recording has electric guitar, which I don’t think has the same charm as the original. But it’s not ghastly. The last time I played this at Mass was in the 80′s. It was the Stephen Schwartz music, taken down about a fourth, and we didn’t omit the second verse:
He only is the maker of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower, He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey Him, by Him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, His children, He gives our daily bread.
All of these pieces have been done many times and in many ways, so think about your favorite of each, and vote:
Amazing that Stephen Schwartz is only 65.
Another classic is “We Gather Together.”
And, always appropriate: the Magnificat.
Kevin Keil’s ALL GOOD GIFTS and Stephen Dean’s THANKS BE TO GOD are both staples and winners. On the trad hymn side, lest we forget FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EART to DIXX.
I like Father, We Thank Thee (Rendez a Dieu).
And I love Pachelbel’s Nun Danket:
We sung it in high school mixed chorus, but probably not suited to a congregation.